Rank # 3 True Confessions Tour

Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
July 6, RFK Stadium, Washington DC (With The Grateful Dead)
July 19 & July 20, 1986, The Spectrum, Philadelphia

Following his Christian trilogy in the late 1970s-early 1980s, Dylan returned to more secular music, with the excellent Infidels and Empire Burlesque albums in his recent past and the quirky Knocked Out Loaded released in the middle of this tour.

Reminiscent of his shows with the Band some 12 years earlier, Dylan utilized Petty and his crew as his backing band, which forced him to focus on his live performances and the full breadth of his career..

I lumped these three shows together because they were similar in performance and repertoire, although the setlists varied slightly from show to show.

My first encounter with the “True Confessions Tour” as it was dubbed was on a stiflingly hot July 4th weekend in Washington DC at RFK Stadium, where the metal bleachers out in the sun may have brought up images of “Highway 61 Revisited” but also required newspapers to sit on to keep from burning up.

Despite the 97-degree heat, Dylan took the stage in the mid-afternoon dressed in black leather but cooly opened the show with the unfamiliar Joe Morris song “Shake a Hand,” which morphed into the universally loved “All Along the Watchtower,” with Petty and Mike Campbell soaring on the Hendrix guitar solo.

The Grateful Dead were also on the bill following Dylan and Petty, and the many Deadheads in the audience were very receptive to Dylan and the Heartbreakers’ loose, jammy style. The show alternated between newer songs and older classics, along with an acoustic set featuring “It Ain’t Me Babe.” Dylan took a quick break for a four-song set by Petty and The Heartbreakers, (and on later shows would give Petty a second set as well during the 3 1/2 hour show.)

The homestretch of the performances featured Dylan and the Heartbreakers heating things up even more with “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (a favorite among the Deadheads), “Like a Rolling Stone,” and “In The Garden.” The encore included “Blowin’ In the Wind” and a concluding, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” with the whole audience swaying along as one.

After a short break, the Dead followed, with a typical Dead setlist from the era, although on the next night, which I did not attend, Dylan joined the Dead for “Desolation Row” and “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.”

These Dead shows are memorable because after the shows, Jerry Garcia went into a diabetic coma, and was near death for a period of time. I can’t help but think the heat he encountered during those two days led to his illness. Fortunately Garcia recovered following physical rehabilitation, and was back on the road six months later. If only he had stuck with his diet and exercise regime!

A few weeks later Dylan, Petty and the Heartbreakers (sans the Dead) came to Philly at the more “intimate” Spectrum, where the full nature of the show could be understood without the distractions of heat, Deadheads, and the whole stadium vibe.

It was here that the show really came together for me, as Petty was able to push Dylan in ways that his typical backup bands would not be able to do.
This show was a real-cross section of most of Dylan’s career (although nothing from the landmark 1970s albums Blood on the Tracks or Desire.)

Nonetheless the mixture of accoustic and electric sets, the rock ‘n’ roll energy of the Heartbreakers, the inclusion of cover songs, some of which would show up years later on Dylan’s “Sinatra” albums, and an unreleased song provided a challenge for band and audience alike, and the entire trek was one of the touring highlights of Dylan’s career.

Here are the setlists (Petty’s and the Dead’s sets are excluded)

July 6, 1986
Shake a Hand
All Along the Watchtower
Clean Cut Kid
I’ll Remember You
Shot of Love
We Had It All (Dobie Gray cover)
Brownsville Girl
Masters of War
It Ain’t Me, Babe
One Too Many Mornings
Mr. Tambourine Man
I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know (The Davis Sisters cover)
Band of the Hand
When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky
Lonesome Town (Ricky Nelson cover)
Ballad of a Thin Man
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Gotta Serve Somebody
Seeing the Real You at Last
Across the Borderline (Ry Cooder cover)
I and I
Like a Rolling Stone
In the Garden
Blowin’ in the Wind
Rock ‘Em Dead (unreleased Dylan song)
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

July 19, 1986
Shake a Hand (Joe Morris cover)
All Along the Watchtower
Clean Cut Kid
I’ll Remember You
Shot of Love
We Had It All (Dobie Gray cover)
Masters of War
The Times They Are A-Changin’
One Too Many Mornings
It Ain’t Me, Babe
I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know (The Davis Sisters cover)
Band of the Hand
When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky
Lonesome Town (Ricky Nelson cover)
Ballad of a Thin Man
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
Seeing the Real You at Last
Across the Borderline (Ry Cooder cover)
I and I
Like a Rolling Stone
In the Garden
Blowin’ in the Wind
Let The Good Times Roll
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

July 20, 1986
Shake a Hand (Joe Morris cover)
All Along the Watchtower
Clean Cut Kid
Emotionally Yours
Shot of Love
We Had It All (Dobie Gray cover)
Masters of War
To Ramona
One Too Many Mornings
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know (The Davis Sisters cover)
Band of the Hand
When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky
Lonesome Town (Ricky Nelson cover)
Ballad of a Thin Man
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
Seeing the Real You at Last
Across the Borderline (Ry Cooder cover)
I and I
Like a Rolling Stone
In the Garden
Blowin’ in the Wind
Rock ‘Em Dead (unreleased)
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

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